Don’t Be Afraid to Dream Big - Entrepreneur View

Posted in Human Resources Articles, Total Reads: 1550
, Published on 11 February 2015

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Have you ever felt while reading about a success story that you don’t have what it takes to be successful? That these people were always clear on what they wanted to do in life and always had a direction to follow? That compared to them you are not very clear on what you want to do in life and what your direction should be?

And that these kinds of things only stop you from taking risk or aiming big?

Well here is a different perspective that there is nothing wrong in not being clear on what to do at some point of time in life.

Let us start with a trivia: Guess the person.

A boy coming from a middle class family who once failed in 10th completed his Mechanical engineering. He worked on his family business for few years where he worked in gold business as well as jute factory He then worked as an executive engineer in state’s public works department. Finally he started out on his own, manufacturing cotton ear buds. He sold off a brewery that he had started meanwhile. Finally his day arrived; he won the bid for Hyderabad airport construction. He worked hard and made that a success and now he is a billionaire. He is an infrastructure magnet who is active in Energy, Highways, Large urban development and airport sectors. He is a role model, none other than GMR.

So what are we pointing at from this story?

There are times in our life where we are not clear on what we want to do. We don’t need to feel discouraged by this and stop taking chances or dreaming big.

If somebody like him who at a stage in life had no clear direction or vision on what he wants to do, who worked in so many areas in search for his opportunity can become a GMR, then why can’t we? Why can’t you? He kept his dream alive, believed in it and kept working hard taking every chance that came his way. Finally his day arrived, when he won the Hyderabad Airport contract and since then he has not looked back.

That is exactly what we will try to point out to you in this article that you should not get disheartened or feel discouraged by reading or finding out things like these and stop dreaming big and following it.

First of all, the success stories which show all these things are not bibles. Not everything they say needs to be true. They also would have time when they were completely unclear on their vision and direction. But whether they want to showcase it or not, that’s a different question! One can always modify things he wants to showcase in retrospect. When you are successful, you always can say things you want the world to know which can either improve your image or which may fit better in your story. So don’t trust these stories completely and know that everyone at some point of life was on the stage we are at. They are no different than us. We just need to believe in ourselves and have the guts to take risks as they did. If we do that, we can be there as well.

Secondly, what is wrong in having an ambition of making or becoming something big and not having the clarity of exactly how?

If you find or know the correct answer to what you want to do in life, it means you are one of the very few who have realized their life’s goal!

Not everybody is Sachin Tendulkar who very early in his life knew exactly what he was going to do in his life!

Most people spend their lifetime finding and realizing that!

Till then, what? What is wrong in having a dream of making it big and try figuring it out while taking every chance that comes your way? Matt Salzberg, founder of a foodie start-up called Blue Apron, quotes a popular metaphor for his chosen profession: ""An entrepreneur is someone who jumps out of a plane without a parachute and figures out how to build one on the way down.""

Did Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani always know what he was going to do? Let’s find out. He started off selling bhajia in local fairs when he was young. He then moved to Yemen, working as a petrol pump attendant who then learnt the art of trading on the streets of Yemen and much later established Reliance industries, Reliance Power and Reliance Capital. Look how far the dream to do big and guts to take chances took him! “My father, a farmer, never even dreamt of business or nurturing a company which is close to achieving a turnover of $1 billion”, said Kallam Anji Reddy.

He came from a small village near Vijayawada. He had been stuck in a PSU job and seemed directionless when a new Government act gave him an opportunity to come out of the safe shell. He took the opportunity and left his job to start a pharmaceutical company. He started a few ventures in quick succession and in 1984, he established Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. The rest, as they say, is history.

Both of them at a point of time were also unsure of what to do in life just like us. But the Entrepreneurs in Mr.Ambani and Mr.Reddy arose because they took every opportunity that came their way, worked hard consistently to make it big and believed in their dream.

Opportunity will come knocking at your door, it’s up to you whether you have the guts to open that door or not! If you missed out on some opportunity, it is not that you missed your chance. Keep looking out for it. You will surely have your day!

Therefore, don’t worry about not having a clear line of sight, a clear direction in your life and never think you can’t make it this way or you’re not born for this.

Because there are two things in life which are true: There is always a moment for everybody in their life, you just have to wait for it patiently and work as hard as you can till then; And that nobody is a born entrepreneur, they work very had and reach there with hard work and a shred of luck. It’s not always that you get to hit the iron when it is hot – so hit the iron so hard that it gets hot. – Laxmi Mittal